FHFA Downplays Potential of Foreclosure-to-Rental Program

WASHINGTON — Federal officials sought Monday to tamp down expectations about a government program to convert foreclosed properties into rental units through the use of bulk sales to investors.

At a congressional field hearing in Chicago, Meg Burns, a senior official at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, stated that the pilot program is not intended to increase the nation's supply of affordable rental housing, or to improve the energy efficiency of homes, as some have advocated.